teh Anyone familiar with Puna remembers the "Tree Tunnel" that used to tower over Highway 132 about 2 miles out of Pahoa Town. Hurricane Iselle turned the Tree Tunnel in Stump Alley last year, with hundreds of these weak-limbed and shallow-rooted trees crashing down onto the road.Most of the ones that didn't blow over were cut down later on by hard working contractors. The change was dramatic, but necessary, as the risk of falling limbs needed to be mitigated. See the above photo for the damage that was done to the previous guard rail. It has since been replaced.But unfortunately for the County, the albizias behave like zombies. The undead stumps have since sent thousands of suckers up and a new generation of these fast-growing trees are rising. Scary!Good news, though, is on the horizon. BIISC is hosting a work day at Lava Tree State Park, which once was host to the biggest of these trees, in order to teach the public the method to their demise. If want to join the party, email biisc@hawaii.edu for details on how to come prepared. You'll get a free T-Shirt and learn to be an assassin of ... the Undead. Happy early Halloween.

Above shows the damage to part of the guard rail on Highway 132 in the area of the former "Tree Tunnel." I call it the Sea Serpent.

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Numbers of large trees (left) that had most of their canopies removed by Tropical Storm Iselle (it was a hurricane until landfall) remain alongside the highway. Watch them in the coming months. BIISC sent out squads of volunteers to assassinate these monstrous trees and we should be seeing them succumb in the months to come.